Ripped
by Rucasofcamelot
Summary: The drunken man followed Melissa down the dark alley. Melissa was afraid. He tried to overtake her and she could fight back in only one way.
1. Chapter 1

**I DO NOT OWN MIDNIGHTERS!**

Chapter 1

Melissa felt the shudder. With it, the blue light which blanketed the world faded away. The sounds of life returned, as well as the dreams of the sleeping and the meaningless thoughts of those still awake. She closed her eyes, forcing her mind onto something else with difficulty. She had recently become better at quenching the mind- noise, but every now and then it still hit her like a mallet.

Rex grabbed her hand, his flesh granting her an esape as his mind, the mind she found solace in, helped her fight back against the daylighters. Slowly but surely, Melissa was able to breath freely again.

"Are you okay?" Rex asked gently.

Melissa gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Loverboy... thanks."

Rex smiled back. "Anytime."

Melissa turned morbidly toward her old Ford. It had been threatning to break down on the way to Rex's house before midnight, and Melissa doubted it would be able to take her all the way back to her own home. She would have to call Jonathan to see if he could fix it; Rex was no good with cars. That would have to wait until tomorrow anyway. For now, she had a bit of a walk from here to her house. At least the cops didn't seem to be on high alert tonight.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Rex asked.

"Nah. I can make it. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then."

Melissa walked off into the night. The black clouds overhead obscured the moon and stars; the only source of light came from the streetlamps, with their man- made light throwing yellow patches on various point of the sidewalk. Melissa was standing in one of these spots when she sensed him. He wasn't a cop... much worse. Great. The last thing she needed was some drunk lowlife stalking her. She stepped out of the light, camoflauging herself in darkness. He was getting closer. He had seen her, and Melissa tasted the sweet grape taste of a good time being anxiously awaited.

Melissa ran, but he was stumbling along after her. She turned into an alleyway, hoping to have sidetracked him. He knew she was there, and nearly at the entrance to the alley. She wasn't going out that way. Melissa ran further down the alley, but was forced to stop, her throat tightly constricted. The way forward was blocked by a brick wall.

"Hey Sweetheart!"

Melissa whirled around, so distracted by the deadend that she hadn't sensed his approach. The man looked to be about five years older than her, with straggly black hair and a scruffy beard. His eyes were so glazed over and his movements so clumsy that Melissa would have know he was drunk even if she wasn't a mindcaster.

"You might want to sober up, buddy," Melissa snapped. "The Bixby police don't appreciate drunk losers like yourself walking their streets."

The man stumbled closer to her. Melissa was pinned against the wall. He was now so close that she could smell the putrid alcohol on his breath. It made her want to puke.

"This won't take long," the man said, grabbing her jacket. Melissa struggled against him, tears welling uncontrollably up. _NO NO NO!_

Melissa pushed against the man's face and suddenly felt his emotions as if they were her own: lust, anger, confusion. His thoughts shoved themselves into her head: the aching to control this helpless girl and the befuddlement of what she was doing to him.

The man fell to the ground, dribble falling down his scuffy chin like a baby. Melissa fell to her knees, exhaustion overtaking her. She could no longer read his mind or feel his emotions. The drunken man was a shell with nothing inside. Melissa felt sick just looking at him.

_Rex..._

The thought crossed her mind at that moment. She needed Rex. She needed him more now than she had ever needed anybody in her entire life. Then, Melissa succumbed to the darkness which had been threatning to envelop her for the last two minutes, and she knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**I DO NOT OWN MIDNIGHTERS!**

Chapter 2

Melissa jumped up with a gasp. She was lying on something soft, and couldn't determine what exactly it was due to the suffocating darkness. The mindnoise around her was more powerful than it had been in a long time. She was dizzy, the urge to vomit overwhelming her.

Then suddenly, one mind broke free of the jumble; it was close and reassuringly recognizable.

The sound of a door opening filled the silence around her, a bit of light shed on the room. Melissa realized she was lying in Rex's bed, his many books and news articles strewn on the floor beneath her. The bedroom light was turned on, forcing Melissa to blink several times before she was able to focus on Rex's form, staring down at her with a fearful expression etched on his face.

Melissa found herself breaking into gasping sobs. "Rex! Rex, I want to forget... I want to forget..."

"Forget what, Melissa?" Rex demanded. "Tell me what happened. What did you do to that man?"

The memory of her attempted rapist, his drunken eyes changed into empty orbs with the drool running uncontrollably down his chin. Melissa could no longer control her need to vomit. It came out in a rush on Rex's floor. Rex quickly came to her side, pulling her hair away from her face.

Once the vomit subsided she began heaving, her stomach clenched up in great pain. She turned to Rex, tears obstructing her eyes. "I did it, Rex, I did it again. I couldn't control it though... it was like before... your dad."

"It's okay, Cowgirl, no one has to know," Rex whispered soothingly, though Melissa could see that he was disturbed.

"He... he tried to hurt me, Rex. Before, when I found out what your dad was doing to you, I was afraid for you. I felt that same fear tonight. I ripped his mind in half to protect myself."

"You had every right to. That man was no better than my dad. He deserved it. Go to sleep now, Cowgirl... go to sleep."

Rex wrapped his arms around her, his mind shooting soothing thoughts in her direction. She relished in his contact, and was soon welcomed into a blissful darkness.

_Rex stood there with his shirt off, the tarantuala crawling hungrily across his bare flesh._

_"Don't knock it away, Rex!" Mr. Greene bellowed in his direction. "Be a man!"_

_Melissa felt his fear hit her like a bullet as she watched through the window. She couldn't take it anymore! She bolted through the front door, and knocked the spider away._

_"What are you doing?" The older man demanded, anger flaring in his eyes. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" _

_He grabbed Rex's arm to pull him away. Melissa felt sure he was going to hurt him. "STOP! STOP!" She cried as she grabbed the man's arm..._

Melissa awoke once more. Rex was lying asleep next to her. She gently wiggled out of his arms and out of the room. She didn't know whether she was doing the right thing. All she knew was that it had come time to face her greatest nightmare full in the face, or she would never be rid of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**I DO NOT OWN MIDNIGHTERS!**

Chapter 3

The man was lying in a drugged sleep, the drool falling slowly down his chin. Melissa stood in the open doorway, staring at him. It was her fault he was like this, just as it was with Madeleine and that drunk man the night before. She found the sudden guilt surprising; up until now, she'd labored under the belief that they all deserved it. Rex's dad hurt him, Madeleine betrayed the midnighters of her time, and that man had tried to rape her. Their own actions had led to their own downfall. So why did she feel so horrible about it?

"Melissa?"

Melissa blinked, turning around. Rex stood behind her. For once, Melissa had been so engulfed in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed someone else's. Now she heard Rex's thoughts echo inside her head; he was worried about her.

"Am I a monster, Rex?" Melissa murmured.

"What? No!"

Melissa waved a hand in Rex's father's direction. "Only a monster is capable of this, Rex! Perhaps Dess has been right about me all along."

Melissa took her hand, but for once his touch wasn't reassuring.

"Cowgirl, Dess is right about a lot of things, but not this. You're no monster."

Rex wrapped his arms around her. Melissa pressed her face against his shirt, her tears soaking it.

...

"So the bitch goddess actually feels guilty?" Dess asked with a note of incredulity in her voice. Rex, Dess, and Jonathan were sitting at the usual table in the school lunchroom. Melissa was skipping school, for obvious reasons.

"Yeah... she's more human than you think, Dess," Rex said.

Dess sighed. "I know. My mind keeps going back to that time when she..." Dess shuddered. Rex knew what she meant; Melissa had touched her in order to recieve information about where the crazy Grayfoot family had taken him.

Rex looked over at Jonathan, who's dark eyes were glazed as if he were far away. Rex knew he really wasn't listening. His mind was in the blue time with Jessica Day. Rex turned back to Dess. "I've been thinking: Maybe we should go with Jessica and Jonathan to find those other midnighters."

"No," Jonathan said, speaking up for the first time. "I need to go: just Jessica and I. Besides, someone needs to stick around to watch Maddy... and Rex," he added in an undertone.

Rex sighed. These were undoubtably grim times for the Bixby midnighters.

...

Melissa turned on the TV. The news was on, the reporter talking about a man inexiplicably found in a coma. The reporter was interviewing various nearby residents. One older woman was saying: "It's just so odd. I never thought I'd here about something like this in Bixby."

Melissa snorted. If that broad thought this was the weirdest thing Bixby had to offer, she needed to get out more. Melissa sighed. She felt the need to leave this town, to leave her mistakes behind and start anew. Then she had an idea. Perhaps she could do just that.


	4. Chapter 4

**I DO NOT OWN MIDNIGHTERS!**

Chapter 4

Midnight came, and Melissa made sure she was at the railroad tracks in Jenks long before the shudder, followed by the blue light racing through the world and the dark moon rising hauntingly up in the sky. The many minds surrounding Melissa were silenced, except for the few belonging to her fellow midnighters.

Jessica, appearing with midnight, glared quizzically at the mindcaster. "Melissa? I wasn't expecting you."

"Nice to see you too, Sparky," Melissa shot back. "I needed to talk to you and Flyboy. He should be here in a couple minutes."

"Talk to us about what?" Jessica asked.

"Wait until Jonathan gets here. I don't want to make the same request twice."

The two of them waited in an awkward silence. Jessica was uncomfortable (as she always was when around Melissa) as well as befuddled. Melissa ignored her, instead turning her attention to the darklings, all of whom were still cowering in the deepest rececces of the desert. Their arrogance had subsided since Samhain but their rabid hunger grew with every second. It reminded her of the man from the alley, and she had to stop herself from vomiting all over again.

Jonathan finally came bouncing into view, landing with a cross- eyed look at Melissa. "Melissa? I wasn't expecting you."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Are you two on the same mental wavelength or something? I needed to talk to you about your little trip to find other midnighters. I want to go with you."

Jessica and Jonathan shot each other a surprised glance before turning back to Melissa.

"Why?" Jonathan demanded. "I thought you were happy here, Melissa. The darklings were gone, you were starting to get along with Dess, and I hear tale that your relationship with Rex is blooming."

"Keep to flying, Jonathan, because mindcasting isn't your thing."

"Okay... then why don't you tell us what's really going on?"

"Things have happened. I just can't stay in Bixby anymore."

"Madeleine," Jessica muttered.

"She's certainly part of it. Besides Jonathan, you need someone to chat with during daylight."

Jonathan looked as if she would be his last choice for that particuliar issue, but she could sense them both waning.

"Fine," Jonathan said with a sigh. "You can come."

Melissa nodded. "Thank you." She turned and walked away, determined not to let the two of them see the tears glistening like diamonds in her eyes.

...

Jonathan took Jessica's hand and the two of them jumped mercifully into the sky, the sense of freedom elating them. But tonight their flight was burdened with curiosity and a tinge of resentment about Melissa's unexpected decision to leave Bixby with them.

"I think I understand it," Jessica said quietly.

"Care to fill me in?"

Jessica turned to him. "She feels guilty, Jonathan. About Rex's father, Madeleine, and the countless other minds she's toyed around with over the years."

"Melissa? Feeling guilty?"

"She's a cold girl for sure. She doesn't express her emotions but she certainly feels them. At least, that's my take on it. We should try to get to know her a little better."

Jonathan murmured gravely: "Come next week, we'll have plenty of time to do just that."


	5. Chapter 5

**I DO NOT OWN MIDNIGHTERS!**

Chapter 5

The news anchor was droning on as usual. The woman could make a mysterious case of a man found in a vegetative state in an alley sound as dull as dishwater. Melissa reached for the remote and pressed the off button. She didn't want to hear anything about that man.

The doorbell rang and Melissa jumped up to get it, knowing instantly who it was. Rex Greene stood on the threshold, seemingly uncomfortable. Melissa's parents disliked her friends, believing them to be a bad influence. If only they knew what kind of negative influence their daughter had.

"Don't worry, Rex, my parents are out," Melissa reassured him. "Come on in."

Rex followed her into the house and they sat on the sofa. Rex clearly knew something was up. Melissa didn't blame him; she had sounded quite urgent on the phone.

"So what's going on?" He asked after an awkward silence.

Melissa took a deep breath. Now or never. "I've decided to go with Jessica and Jonathan."

Rex's heart took a painful blow. Melissa felt it in her own breast, and was forced to gasp for air. Rex grabbed her sleeve, as if pulling her away from the horrible emotions raging inside her from both of them.

Melissa looked into Rex's eyes, no longer shielded by glasses; he lost the need for them after he was turned into a halfling. There was pain and a strong hint of confusion in those eyes. Melissa felt tears trickle down her cheeks as she stared at him, past the eyes into his very soul.

"I don't understand," Rex finally murmured. "Why?"

Melissa stood up and turned away, wiping away the tears. "I can't stay here, Rex. Everyday I'm here, I'm reminded of all I've done. I want to start over, and the only way I can do that is by leaving Bixby."

Melissa felt a gentle hand grasp her arm and turn her around. As she looked back at the seer's face, she knew that she loved him. She'd loved him a long time, perhaps since the moment when she found him in her cowgirl pajamas so many years ago.

"I don't want you to go," Rex admitted, "but if you feel you must, I won't try to stop you."

Melissa found herself falling into his embrace, sobbing into his shirt. She surprised herself; she normally wasn't the crying type. But this was too much to bear. All she wanted was to be held by Rex, the only person she would ever want touching her in anyway. Rex did hold her, and she felt his love as strong as her own.

"Will you come back?" Rex asked quietly.

"I will, Rex. I promise I'll always come back to you."

"I'll wait for you, Cowgirl."

Melissa broke into her first smile for what felt like ages. "I know, Loverboy. I know."


End file.
